The Wolves Are Burning
by fuckinghawthorne
Summary: Katniss Everdeen's the daughter of a mobster. Her best friend Gale is the son of its boss. Living in the city of Panem has never been safe, but it takes a turn for the worse when they become responsible for a death that changes everything. WARNING: lots of violence, drugs, and alcohol. What else can you expect from the Seam Rats?
1. Regret

I wake cold, sweaty, and alone.

My breathing is shaky, my hands are clenched, and I have no idea where I am. I twist around until the sheets that entangle me allow me to turn my head. "Prim?"

She's standing at the edge of the bed we share, staring at me through the darkness. I ground myself by staring back, looking at her face and remembering where I am. Who I am. _What_ I am.

A killer.

"You were kicking me," she accuses, her voice muddled with sleep. "A lot."

I swallow hard, my racing heart beginning to slow. "It was just a dream," I say hollowly, reminding myself as much as informing her. "Don't worry about it."

"You sound like Dad," she replies, though I can see the corner of her mouth twitch up a bit. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." My answer was short and I doubt she believes it, but it's enough to coax her back into bed. I smooth her hair back and kiss her on the forehead, trying not to think about how wrong it feels to touch her with these hands. They're new. And not mine. "Go back to sleep," I say, rolling off the mattress. I pad across the bare wood floor and make it through the door before she can answer. It's pitch black, but I know this place better than the back of my hand.

The stairs groan under my weight as I climb them. At least I was smart enough to remember to slip on my shoes when I found them in the hallway. Otherwise the splinters would be unbearable. Learned that lesson the hard way. The door to the rooftop is stuck, as _fucking_ always, and I barely have the energy to shoulder it open. Once I do, I'm not surprised to see that he's already up here.

"Still up?" he says, not looking at me. He takes a drag off his cigarette, and the light spilling in from the staircase illuminates the smoke as it curls upwards into the night.

"Were you really expecting me to sleep?" I reply, shutting the door behind me. I walk up besides him slowly, stuffing my hands in the pockets of my sweatpants.

"No, I guess not," he replies, turning to look at me for the first time. The city lights cast shadows across his face. His gaze lingers for a moment. "Don't worry. It'll get easier."

I hate that he knows that, and I know that he hates it too. "It shouldn't be easy, Gale," I say.

Gale just shrugs, lifting his smoke back to his mouth. "Didn't say that," he says, his lips moving around it. "I just said it would get easier."

"Whatever," I huff, staring out at the Chinese restaurant across the street. It's neon lights are nearly dead; the name of the place only has four working letters. "How do you bear it anyways?" I ask after a moment. I don't think I can.

He sighs, letting the smoke stream out of his mouth. I reach in his jacket pocket and pull out a cigarette of my own, taking the last of his pack. He rolls his eyes at me but lets it slide. "I don't know..." he says. "I just... You do for family."

"You do for family," I echo, lighting up. I have to shield the lighter from the wind. "You a Hallmark card now?"

I don't have to look to know that he's smirking. "Shut up Catnip," he says, bumping my shoulder. He leans against the wall and looks down past the edge of the building, flicking his ash into the street three stories below. "I guess I just don't think about it," he says after awhile.

I close my eyes and try to clear all thoughts of last night from my mind. It's pointless. I remember everything. It plays over and over again in my head like some horrible movie I don't want to watch. But I've seen it a thousand times. I'm seeing it right now. I can still smell the cigar he was smoking, I can still hear the sound of my gunshots. There were way too many, according to Dad. A messy kill. _"But not bad for your first,"_ he had said afterwards, and it's those six words that I can't get out of my head. My first. Meaning there'll be more.

Well of course there will be.

"I can't not think about it," I say, and I'm furious that my voice breaks. My dream comes back to haunt me, but it's no different than the slideshow I've been playing in my mind. The car. The diner. The shots. The escape. The cops. It was Gale who shot the officer that had been aiming at my head. It was Gale who saved my life. I peek at his hands when he stubs out his smoke on the concrete wall. They look the same as always. I glance down at my own, failing to steady my trembling fingers. My smoke nearly falls out of my hand. "My hands are different," I say, stretching them out in front of me. "I'm... they're different."

He just looks at me. I drop the cigarette and leave it to burn on the wall. The tendrils of smoke drift lazily away and its as if all of a sudden Panem's light is too bright for my eyes. I cover them as I cry, trying in vain to block everything out. There's no escaping what I've done. I'll have to live with it forever.

"You're the same to me," he says softly, wrapping his arms around me, I cry into his shirt, letting him rest his chin on the top of my head. "You're no different, Katniss. Not to me."

I close my eyes and allow my best friend to hold me. Gale. What would I do without him? We've been friends since before I could talk; our fathers consider each other family. Hell, even my own mother refers to Gale as her son sometimes. I don't move away from him. Why should I? It's too late for anyone to see us. Everyone's downstairs anyways. I'm sure the last thing they're thinking about is where we are. What we're doing.

What _are_ we doing?

I ask him that same question, holding his waist tightly. "I want out," I mumble. I know better than to expect he'll take me seriously.

"It'll get easier," he repeats, and I hope the lie I hear in his voice is just a trick in my ears. We stand like this for a few more minutes before I pull away, drying my eyes with the heel of my hand.

"Alright," I say, collecting myself. I draw my shoulders back. "That's enough of that." I force a small, nervous laugh and look up at him. "I'll be fine."

"Sure you will," he nods. He carefully puts out my still-smoking cigarette and slips the remaining half of it back into the empty pack. I clear my throat and look back at the door.

"Blue still mad at you?"

I can tell it's a question I shouldn't have asked. "When isn't he?" Gale says bitterly. He spits over the edge of the building. "But it doesn't matter. I did what I did and I wouldn't change it."

Everyone knows Gale's relationship with his father is strained, but the blow-up that Blue let loose on Gale yesterday was something none of us have ever seen before. If it was anyone but Blue doing the beating, we would have dragged him away for fear of killing Gale. But of course no one did. We don't ever cross Blue. Ever. Eventually my father had to step in and stop it, as only he can when it comes to Blue and his explosions. They're closer than brothers, yet it still took Gale getting knocked unconscious for my father to convince him to stop. Not that my dad was particularly please with what Gale did either, but at least he had my life to be grateful for. You see, the cop that Gale shot and killed wasn't just a cop. He was the police commissioner. The same guy who's been hounding after us all ever since he was promoted. You'd think that our fathers would be happy that he was finally knocked off. For the most part, all the guys were. But not our dads.

 _"You were seen!"_ Blue had yelled at Gale. _"By everyone! They know your face now! Hers too!"_

And he was right. Gale and I were on the news. Sketches of our faces were, and still are, broadcasted across every news program in the state. Panem's newspapers are no doubt printing them out right now, along with warnings of the "crazed Seam Rats" caught in action for the first time in years. Even today, the commissioner's son was on tv cursing our names. Idiot. It was his father's own fault. It wasn't his job to be out on the street, anyways. He shouldn't have even been there.

So, thanks to our "little stunt", as Blue says, we had to switch things up. Probably will have to for awhile. Instead of meeting up at Gale's house, everyone came and met up at ours. Which is a shame, since the tiny apartment can barely hold the four people that live in it, let alone everyone else. They made do by keeping to the ground floor; sitting in the restaurant. Oh well. Soon enough we'll be able to get out of here. We have a house being built on the same street as Gale's. Ritzy place it is, too. I could care less about that; all I'm asking for is floors that are actually finished.

Anyways, because of our new-found fame, Gale and I are officially on the Seam's shitlist. No leaving the house, no communication with anyone, no information from anyone about anything that the guys are currently doing, and worst of all: Blue's disappointment. I admit that that's definitely aimed more at Gale than at me, but still. I can't help catching a few waves of it whenever I meet Blue's eye. He hasn't spoken a word to Gale however, so I guess I can't complain about the glares he's been sending my way. At least he's acknowledging me.

"He'll be thanking me for it soon enough," Gale adds. His voice draws me back to the present, and I look up at him. He walks away from me and back towards the door. "At least the guy will be off our backs."

"True," I sigh, following him down the staircase. I lower my voice when we pass the bedrooms. "Mellark breathing down our necks is one thing we can definitely live without."

He nods but doesn't say anything. I study his face despite the darkness that envelopes us both. "I look like shit, I know," he huffs, turning his head away. He pushes past me to reach the living room, which is currently doubling as Gale's bedroom. My dad insisted that he stay with us last night. At least until Blue calms down.

Knowing Blue, that could be awhile.

We sit and talk for a few more minutes until exhaustion overwhelms me. Other than the hour or two I got earlier, I haven't slept in two days. Gale notices, blinking at me with eyes just as sleepy as my own, but I wave off his order to go to bed. I can't sleep yet. Not with Prim.

"You know she'll forgive you," Gale says softly, stretching his long legs out across the cushions. "You don't have to worry about that."

"Just shut up about it," I snap, not in the mood to talk about it any longer. I know he'll let my misplaced anger slide. "I'm fine here."

And with that, I curl up on the chair and let myself shut down. Sleep comes easier than it did earlier.

This is the night I learn that the dreams never really go away.

 **I hope you guys liked it! The idea for this fic came to me out of the blue, and I just _had_ to write it, especially since I haven't published anything since 2014. Don't worry, I'm back!**


	2. Damned

" _Free at last, free at last!_ "

I give Haymitch my best glare when I hear his drunken voice slur those words. "Would you just shut up?" I hiss, walking up to his table. The restaurant was busy with our usual crowd, but the last thing I wanted was for anyone else to hear what he was saying. There'd be too many questions. Half of the Seam don't even know why Gale and I were shunned in the first place, and I'm not going to let anything change that. I'm dodging enough of them already; for some crazy reason most of them seem to think that I'm pregnant or something.

And there's always the other types of ears I'd like to avoid. My father's restaurant has grown enough that more people than Seam Rats come here now. Who knows what they'd do if they found out what I've done. What my freedom was taken away for. It wouldn't be hard to put two and two together. We've been shunned for a little over two weeks, and my police sketch is no doubt still circling around the news. Granted, it wasn't a very accurate picture, but I'll be damned if _Haymitch_ is the one who leads to my arrest. Asshole. He didn't even tip me last time I waited on him.

He gives me a caustic smile. "Well Jesus, sweetheart. Forgive the fuck out of me for wanting to celebrate your newly found freedom. It's not everyday Blue decides to forgive someone."

I don't point out that Blue never actually _does_ forgive someone. He told Gale and I we can come back to the Seam, but we all know he won't forgive us. He definitely won't forget what happened either. Oh well. At least we're back in his circle again.

"Loose lips sink ships," I sigh, setting the drink he ordered on his table. "Remember that before you start blabbing about me to everyone else in the restaurant."

He gives me a real smile this time, and I relax enough to return it. "Glad you're back," he says sincerely, leaning back in his chair. "Although I can't say I'm not disappointed in your serving time. Takes ten minutes to pour me a drink?"

The smile drops from my face. "Well I have to take some time to spit in it," I say flatly.

Haymitch maintains eye contact but brings the glass to his mouth anyways. "You're a real piece of work," he complains, shaking his head. I watch as he downs the drink in one go. "Delicious."

I roll my eyes at him and resist the urge to glare until he finally gives me his order. I've been working at this place since I was 15, and in the four years since then he always orders the same fucking thing. My dad gets pissed if I just bring people their food without dicking around with their orders though, so I'm forced to listen to him goad me until he actually places it. I sigh to myself once I can finally retreat to the haven of the kitchen. Greasy Sae's here of course, and she smiles at me when I enter.

"Is that fool bothering you again?" she smirks, pushing Haymitch's plate towards me. She must have already had it prepared.

"When is he not?" pipes up a familiar voice, and I turn to see Gale standing behind me. His hands are full of people's dirty dishes, which he places on the counter. "Morning Catnip," he says quietly as he pushes past me.

"Morning," I reply. I lean against the counter, loitering a bit on purpose. Just because I'm kind enough to not spit in Haymitch's eggs, it doesn't mean I won't let them get cold. I watch dully as Sae limps around the kitchen, cooking everyone's meals exactly how they like them. She carefully cuts the crust off of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and I sit up a little. "Posy's here?" That sandwich could only be for her.

"Yeah," Gale says breezily, hurrying to shove the dishes in the washer. We've been short-staffed for months, which means that us servers have been having to do the dishes as we go along. It's brutal, but at least it means less time in the actual dining area. "Blue too. And Mom and the boys."

I take the plate with the sandwich before Gale can. "I'm taking over your section," I say, smiling at him sweetly. "Go give Haymitch his food. He doesn't like it when it's cold."

Gale's protests fade into the background as I leave the kitchen, carefully balancing all five plates on our tiny push-cart. I can't help but laugh when Gale stalks out from behind me and practically drops Haymitch's food on his table. He's glaring daggers at me, but it's nothing compared to Haymitch's look when he sees his food is cold. I leave them to it, smiling as I approach the Hawthorne's table. It's the best spot in the whole place, and I can't recall anyone ever sitting there but Blue and his family. I guess I've sat there a few times, but since I was in fact _with_ Blue, I don't think that counts. Anyways, we always reserve it just for them. It's somewhat private, and can't be seen from the windows that make up the majority of our front wall. Blue's always been like that. He makes it a point to never be left exposed; even now he's sitting with his back to the wall, giving him the ability to see everyone else in the restaurant without having to turn around.

"Ka'niss!"

"Posy!" I grin, placing Blue's food in front of him. I place a quick kiss on the tiny girl's head. "I've missed you!"

Thanks to our exile, I haven't seen any of the Hawthornes except for Hazelle and Blue since it all started. I can't help but give Rory and Vick hugs as well, although Posy pushes them away from me so she can jump in my arms. "Where'd you go Ka'niss?" she asks, squeezing my neck.

I share a look with Blue. He doesn't say anything, just reaches around me for the rest of the food. I let him pass it out to his family. "I uh... I was very... busy," I lie, looking at Blue again. He nods and holds out his hands for his daughter. I hand her over without question just as Gale appears at my side.

"Katniss," Blue says, letting Posy settle in his lap. He ignores Gale's arrival completely. "Would you kindly explain to Posy that a peanut butter sandwich isn't breakfast?" He pokes Posy side as he teases her, making her squeal happily. Hazelle just rolls her eyes.

"Hey, don't knock the sandwich," I smile. "They're delicious."

We all banter back and forth for awhile. It almost feels normal again, sharing this moment with the Hawthornes. I guess that's one thing you can say about Blue. He may hold onto grudges, but at least he doesn't press them once he tells you they're over.

We're joking about Rory's new haircut when a strange look crosses over Blue's face. "Shut up," he snaps abruptly, and Gale's voice dies in his throat. Even though he obeys, I can still see the hurt in his eyes at his father's order. We share a confused look, but Blue doesn't notice. He's transfixed by something behind us. I follow his gaze.

"Oh shit," Gale hisses. His hand flies to my shoulder, pushing me behind a potted tree near the table. I look out from between its leaves at the window.

"Mellark's on the street," I breathe, staring.

"His _son_ is on the street," Gale corrects. "And there's more coming out of the car."

We're not the only ones who notice. The usual buzz of the restaurant falls silent as more and more Seam Rats take note of the blonde heads outside the window. I can see Haymitch adjust his jacket from all the way across the restaurant, no doubt gripping the gun he keeps tucked into his pants. "Fuck," Blue whispers behind me. "Fuck."

"What are they doing here?" I whisper to Gale. Panic rises up in the back of my throat. Do they know who we are? What we've done? Did they come to arrest us? Kill us? My hands start shaking and I feel sweaty all over. I didn't even get to say goodbye to Prim today- she was still sleeping when I left for my morning shift.

"Cops," Gale hisses, ignoring me. His eyes are still riveted on the window. Sure enough, two squad cars pull up alongside the curb, joining the big black car that the Mellarks are all standing around. There's eight in total: three blonde men who all look strikingly like the Commissioner, a blonde woman I'm guessing is their mother, and four policemen. Two of whom are still in their squad car. The six we can see look surprisingly grim. Almost... scared. "They brought fucking cops," Gale says under his breath. He looks back at Posy and the boys in panic, and I can tell he's thinking the same thing that I am.

We're fucked.

"Get out of here," Blue hisses from behind us. He's on his feet, his hands digging into my shoulder. "Go. Now."

I obey without hesitation, letting Blue push me behind him. Gale takes some more convincing. His feet seem unwilling to move when his father tugs at him, but at his mother's request he too turns and goes. Heads turn as we practically run through the restaurant, jumping over carelessly placed purses, feet, and chairs. Haymitch catches my eye as we hurry past him, and from the look on his face I know we're in trouble. It's not often you see Haymitch worried, but as of right now he definitely is.

"Go, go, go," Gale mutters behind me, pushing a hand against the small of my back. Luckily the Mellarks and company are still talking with each other outside, so even if they did happen to look in the window, I don't think they could see our faces. Just two blurry shadows disappearing into the kitchen's double doors.

Gale locks the doors behind us as soon as we enter, quickly explaining the situation to a very confused Greasy Sae. I wish there was some other place to hide, but aside from the glass front doors, there's no other way out. The stairs to our apartment are outside. There's always the back patio that people use to smoke, but who knows if they've got the place surrounded.

"We're trapped like rats," Gale says angrily, voicing my thoughts.

"Ironic," I reply, though there's no humor in this situation. I cross my fingers and even my toes that Prim doesn't choose this moment to come downstairs. _Please don't come down_ , I think _Please, Prim_. She's only a girl, but if they're here for us they're bound to know who she is. I wouldn't put it past the cops to use her as bait to get us to come out. Panem's finest are dirty motherfuckers. They wouldn't even blink at the thought of it.

The faint tinkle of the front door's bell catches my attention, and I feel like throwing up. "Move," Gale whispers, shunting me to one side. I hadn't even realized I was leaning against the doors. I watch him stare through their tiny window. I don't think anyone would be able to recognize him through the dirty glass, but it still makes me anxious to think that they could see his face. "It's Red," he breathes, his eyes narrowed.

"My dad? Move." I dart to his side, pressing my face against his so we can both stare out at my father. I have to stand on my tiptoes, and even then I can barely see over the edge of the window. "What the fuck is he doing here?"

"Probably looking for you," Gale says. I watch my dad walk casually over to Blue's table. They exchange a few words, all the while keeping an eye on the party outside the doors. The damned cops are still standing around out there; the lady seems to be searching for something in her car and they're all stuck waiting for her to finish. Blue and my father separate from Gale's family. They walk up to the bar and take seats on the dull red stools, smoothing out their suits calmly.

"What do you think she's looking for?" Gale asks quietly. He nods to the blonde lady.

"I have no idea."

"Think it's a gun?"

"What? Why would she need a gun? There's four cops there with her."

"Maybe she wants to shoot us."

"Don't be stupid," I say huffily, though part of me is afraid he's right.

"I'm just saying-"

"Shut _up_ Gale."

"Well, why'd you think they let your dad walk right by them?"

"Maybe they don't recognize him. It's us they're after."

"But who _doesn't_ know your dad's Seam?"

"Only Seam people know who's Seam," I point out. "And most people know about Blue, I guess, but not about my dad. Especially not rich assholes like the Mellarks."

"But those cops are there. They know. See the two that just got out of the car? That's Darius and Cray. They definitely know about both of our dads."

"Would you just shut up?" I snap. "Just because Cray and Darius know, it doesn't mean the rest of them do."

"Well why else would they be looking for us at your father's restaurant?"

"You don't know they're looking for you two," Sae says quietly, surprising me. I nearly forgot she was here. Gale and I turn to look at her but neither of us say anything. I crane my neck to stare at the blonde lady.

"She found it," I say. I watch as she straightens up, adjusts her expensive black dress, and turns towards the restaurant. "It looks like... a folder."

Gale doesn't answer. He just continues to glare out the window. The bell sounds again and my heart skips a beat.

They're inside.

I pull Gale's head down by his hair and press myself against the door. "Get down," I whisper. I grip his arm tightly, looking pleadingly at Greasy Sae. "Sae. Can you look for us?"

She nods her tiny silver head and marches up to the window. We get out of her way, although Gale's hesitant to leave. He always has to know what's going on; always has to see it with his own eyes.

"They went straight to the bar," Sae says softly. That fat one led them- Cray. They're talking to your father, girl."

I bite my lip and squeeze Gale's arm tighter. We're dead for sure.

"The woman is talking now," Sae continues. "To both of them. She's handing them papers... She looks angry."

"What are the papers?" I plead, but Sae just shakes her head.

"My old eyes aren't what they used to be..." She says apologetically. "I... I can't tell."

Gale moves quickly and silently to Greasy Sae's side. "Here," he says gently. "Let me look." He crouches slightly so as little of his head as possible can be seen through the window. "Shit," he says to me. "That folder's from the police department. It's marked with their seal."

Everything inside me sinks. "Let me see."

I scramble to his side, looking out of the window again. Greasy Sae squeezes my shoulder with her strong hand. "Fuck," I mutter, blinking out at the scene before us. The three blonde men are all standing with their arms folded, looking out uncomfortably at the rest of the restaurant's patrons. The place is filled with Seam Rats, all of whom are having no trouble letting their unadulterated hatred for the cops show. Cray is the only one of the bunch who looks at ease- he's leaning casually against the bar and listening to what the woman is saying. Darius has his hand on his gun already, his eyes shifting between Haymitch and another Rat, Thom, cautiously. Blue and my dad are each sitting back in their stools looking completely comfortable. Their expressions are polite, but Blue's turns antagonistic when he answers the woman. I can see his outstretched arm twitch slightly; it looks like he just pressed some cash into Cray's hand without anyone else noticing. His lips move silently in answer to what the woman said. She purses her thin lips and shoots something back at him, but Blue has no trouble returning the favor. I doubt what they said was pleasant. They keep talking, the woman growing more and more animated as the conversation goes on. Gale's shoulders tense up at the scene.

"They're fighting about something," he says. "Probably us."

"What else could it be?" I whisper back. My spine tingles and I pull on him. "Come on. Get away from the window, Gale."

He shrugs me off. "Wait," he says. "They're leaving."

Already? It's only been a few minutes, how could they leave? I focus on them again. The woman looks angry. Her voice raises enough for me to hear her through the doors. I can't make out her words, but her tone is definitely not pleased. Its accusatory. Blue and my father just smile at her, though I can see from here that their mouths are pulled tight. Cray is the first to move, straightening his back and leading the way out of the restaurant. He holds the door for them all, nodding at Blue and my father when they approach. They've followed them all outside, although none of them are speaking. The woman's head is raised high and her nose is firmly in the air.

Bitch.

They all get back in their car rather quickly. The woman can't resist saying one last thing to our fathers as they pile in, but it seems to leave them unaffected. They both stand with their chins up and watch the three vehicles pull away. The black car is the last to go, and I almost have to laugh when I see Blue flip it off as it goes. My heart still pounding in my chest, I look at Gale.

"Well at least we're not arrested."

Gale lets out a heavy breath. He doesn't tear his eyes away from our fathers. "For now."

We stand in the kitchen with Sae until they come back inside. Through the doors, we hear the restaurant explode with questions, but Blue just waves them off. They make a beeline for the kitchen, making it to us just after I unlock the door. I meet my father with wide eyes. His face is grim. Blue just looks pissed.

"What-"

Whatever Gale was about to say is cut off. Blue rips the papers from my dad's hands and slams them on the counter in front of us. I gulp and look down.

They're not papers. They're our pictures. Not sketches, but high-resolution photographs from what I'm assuming is an actual camera. My mouth goes dry when I see myself outside that diner, bright red blood splattered across my face. All over my clothes. Blue points to a photograph in the middle of the folder. It's of Gale, one of his hands on my shoulder, the other gripping his gun. In the corner of the frame is the Commissioner's dead body. Both of our faces are visible.

"New evidence," Blue growls. His grey eyes flash at us both. "You're officially fucked."

 **Hope you guys liked Chapter Two! Leave a review if you want to make my day. Or, stop by on tumblr and tell me what you think! The username's galehawtherne.**


	3. Fucked

Fucked.

It's a strange language we speak, isn't it? It's amazing that one word can mean so much. In those six little letters, everything my future holds, everything that I am, is so precisely described. It's all wrapped up in a neat little bow. So easy to roll off of the tongue, so relevant to what my life has become.

Fucked.

Nobody said it better than Blue did when he slapped those pictures down in front of us. We are _fucked_. Dead. Doomed. Royally so.

"I'll say that I took you hostage."

Gale's voice interrupts my thoughts. Which is probably a good thing, actually. One can only envision their future life in prison for so long before wanting to burst into tears. And trust me, I'm about ready to burst.

I lift my head up from my arms and look at him with tired eyes. "People saw me shoot the first guy."

"The cop? In the booth?" He bites his lip; I can practically see the wheels turning in his head. "Well maybe I told you to shoot him. I could've threatened to kill you unless you killed him for me."

"Gale," I sigh, rubbing my forehead with the heel of my hands. "Just stop it. I'm not letting you take all the blame for me. It's my fault you had to kill the Commissioner in the first place." Anger swells up in my chest at the thought of letting Gale get a life sentence in jail just to spare me. How could he even think that I would allow him to do that?

"Like I was just going to let him shoot you in the head-"

"I could've taken care of it myself!"

"How? By moving faster than the bullet?"

"I could've done it!"

"He was going to _kill_ you, Katniss."

I glare at him. "Would you stop being such a fucking hero? Jesus, Gale! I'm not letting you take the fall for me!"

Gale narrows his eyes. "I'm not being a hero," he spits. " _I_ have to go to jail. _You_ don't. I'm being smart. Something you're not so good at."

"Oh, fuck you."

He ignores the insult, choosing instead to grab my arm. Hard. I wince from the pressure of it. "Look," he insists, "All the pictures can prove is that I killed Mellark. Not you. _Me_. I could have just as easily forced you to kill that first guy."

My face grows hot and I try in vain to wrench myself away from him. "They all saw me do it," I hiss. "Alone. Without your gun to my head. It was _my_ choice, Gale. _My_ job. The only reason the Commissioner got involved was because _you're_ the one who slowed us down. Nobody would have even known I was there if you had just let me go there alone-"

"Oh, okay," he scoffs. "I'm sure you would have done just fine by yourself. Killing a person for the first time is a walk in the fucking park-"

 _"SHUT UP!"_

Not one, but three different voices join together to yell that at us. Blue, my dad, and Haymitch are all glaring at Gale and I angrily. Not that I blame them. We're the ones who screwed up irreparably.

"Look," Blue says. His voice wavers with the effort it takes for him to quell the rage in it. "Here's what's going to happen. The two of you," He points at us both as he paces the floor, "are going to shut the fuck up. Right now. Before I get angry. And then," he says, "We're going to figure out how to keep you two idiots from going to prison."

My dad's long frame dwarfs our shabby couch, but for once it's not his height that makes him seem larger than life, it's the look of anger on his face. "Katniss," he says, closing his eyes. I try to reach up to put my hand on his, but he jerks it away from me. "Do you... do you even realize the amount of trouble you're in?"

I hang my head. "Dad-"

"Did you see anyone with a camera?" he interrupts. "How didn't you notice your picture being taken? I _taught_ you about this. Didn't I teach you about this?"

"We all taught them about this," Blue says, throwing a disgusted look at Gale. "They were just too dense to listen, apparently."

I look up desperately at Haymitch. My spot on the living room floor makes it so I have to crane my neck painfully just to see him standing behind the couch.

"Don't look at me, kid," he says, raising his hands in front of him. "I can't get you out of this one. You've got the _Mellarks_ after you. They're one of the richest families in Panem, you know that. It was bad enough when we only had their old man on our backs." He shrugs in defeat. "What do you want me to do? Talk Blue into buying them out? It'll take nearly every penny he's got."

"I've got much more valuable things to spend my money on," Blue growls, stalking past Gale. I watch as he throws him yet another nasty look.

"Just... what did they say to you exactly?" Gale asks, speaking to Blue directly for the first time since the restaurant. He glares up at his father and for a moment I'm afraid the two of them will start to brawl right here in the living room.

"They said they caught two Seam kids in action," My father says dully. He avoids my eyes. Though it's quiet rather than violent, his disappointment hurts far worse than Blue's. I try to touch him again but once more he jerks himself away from me. "They don't know exactly _who_ you are, but they knew enough to come to the Hob." The Hob, our restaurant, is basically Seam headquarters. Everyone in the city knows that 12th street belongs to the Rats. Back when Blue lived around here, cops would patrol the area heavily. But once things really started heating up and Blue managed to completely flip Panem's drug trade in his favor, the cops changed their routes to bypass our neighborhoods altogether.

They're all too afraid of us now.

"How do they know we're Seam?" I ask him.

"Who else is killing cops?" Haymitch answers bitterly. My dad just nods, looking more defeated than I've ever seen him.

"Okay," Gale says slowly. He looks at me a moment before shifting his gaze to the men. "So they don't know our names or where we live. That's good, right?"

"It's just about the only thing you have going for you," Haymitch says.

"So we'll just go into hiding," I suggest, ignoring the scoff that immediately comes from Gale.

"What you'll do is lay low," Blue says forcefully. "We may have to move you somewhere else. Out of the city probably. And while you're gone, the rest of us will get rid of the evidence."

"How?" My dad says in exasperation, throwing up his hands. "We just break into the police department? The Mellark's houses?"

"We'll kill them all if we have to," Blue says coldly. He finally stops pacing, coming to a stop near Haymitch. "And those remaining on the police force can either be bought out or die trying to take us down. The Mellarks aren't hard to find. We know where the wife lives. All three of the sons, too. The oldest one's kid goes to the academy with Posy. If worse comes to worse, we can make sure he never sees Daddy again."

The room goes deadly silent and Blue looks between us all in annoyance. "We can hold the boy for _ransom_ ," he explains impatiently. "Jesus Christ, you all are morons. I'm not going to kill a fucking four year old." He taps his fingers on the back of the couch. "I mean, unless I have to. But it would never come to that. It's their first grandkid. They would never let anything happen to it."

I exchange a wide-eyed look with Gale. Our freedom couldn't possibly hinge on the kidnapping of a four year old child, could it?

"I don't want any part in the murder of a baby," my dad says, twisting around to look Blue firmly in the eyes. "And I know you don't either, so cut the bullshit James."

"Our state has the death penalty," Blue retorts icily, bending down so he's nearly nose to nose with my dad. Anger has made its home in all of his features, as it usually does whenever someone besides Hazelle calls him by his first name. Sometimes my father can get away with it, but now is obviously not one of those times. "Are you willing to let Gale and Katniss die because you're too afraid we can't ransom that fucking kid?" He finally stands up straight. "I'm not."

"Just keep that idea in your back pocket, that's all I'm saying," Dad answers steadily. "We can send people in to get the evidence. Let's at least try that first." He takes a deep breath, and to my surprise he actually looks at me. Well, more like _through_ me. His eyes don't acknowledge me at all. "If not," he finishes, "We can kill them. The _adults_. Our kids aren't going to jail."

"Cray and Darius might sell us out," Gale points out quietly. "It's bound to happen sooner rather than later."

"We've been lining their pockets for years," Haymitch replies. "We have enough to keep them quiet. And it's not like they're gunning for your arrest. They're crooked cops. They probably hated that goody two-shoes Commissioner more than we did."

Nobody says anything after that. Blue goes back to pacing, and the rest of us are too engrossed in our own thoughts to try to speak. It's too much of an effort anyways. I have nothing more to say for myself. I screwed up. I let Gale come along when I knew he would only complicate things, and so now I'm paying the price. I guess it's good he was there because he didn't let me die, but if the truth be told, would I have even been in that situation had I gone alone? The plan was supposed to be simple. In and out; quick and painless. Only, Gale had insisted on driving my getaway car. I guess I took too long for his ever-paranoid taste, because I was barely in the diner for ten minutes before he came strolling in looking for me. I had spent most of that time in their dingy bathroom, psyching myself up for the kill. My first. The one that was never supposed to mean anything, yet has somehow caused me to get in more trouble than I've ever been in before. I could die because of this. We both could. If anyone has to pay the price for my mistake, I'm okay with it being me. But not Gale. Never him.

Anyways, by the time Gale came in, I had just done the deed. My shots rang out almost exactly as he came in the door, and so no one was in fact _in_ the getaway car when I needed to actually get away. Things got messy when some stupidly heroic diner decided to try to wrest my gun away from me, which only added to the shitstorm. I managed to escape from the man just as Gale came flying at him with a punch to the temple, knocking him out cold. Slowed down by panicked diners fighting their way towards the door, Gale and I made it outside just in time to meet Commissioner fucking Mellark. Who knew why he had just so happened to be on the street that day. Destiny? Fate? God? Pure shitty luck? I don't know. The point is, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I suppose it's lucky he had aimed at me first. Gale was taller. More exposed. I didn't even _see_ Mellark at first, so he could have easily shot Gale before I could do the very thing Gale did for me. But since Gale wasn't covered in the blood of the man he had just shot six times, I guess that made him less conspicuous of a target than me.

 _Bang._

One single shot, and Mellark's wife was a widow.

I force myself back into the present by staring at Gale. In the dim light of my darkened living room, he looks downright haggard. Purple bags under his eyes, made darker by shadows, accentuate how tired he looks. His long straight nose, bright grey eyes, and strong jaw are all pointed at the ground. He's staring at our unfinished floors as though they can tell him how we'll get out of this mess. Part of me knows he's only looking down so as to avoid looking up at Blue. Aren't we all doing the same thing? Gale's hair is wild from all the times he's scrubbed his hands through it this morning, a habit he has for when he's stressed. I reach my own hand up and smooth it out slowly. His eyes flash to mine at once.

 _What are we going to do?_ they say.

 _"I don't know,"_ I mouth back at him. I lower my hand and let it rest on the ground between us. He looks at it, and for a moment I think he'll take it in his own, but he doesn't. He just stares. I pull it back onto my lap and clear my throat.

"What did you say to Mom?" I ask. The question's directed at my father, but I'm looking at the floor. Maybe it'll tell me what it won't tell Gale.

"We told her and Hazelle everything," Dad says. "I left it up to her to decide whether or not to tell Prim."

Her name makes my heart feel like it's getting stabbed with ice. "How'd she explain leaving the apartment so we could talk?"

Dad had gone upstairs before any of us to tell my mother what was going on, as well as to run up to the roof to see whether or not any more cops were around. The coast was clear enough for Gale and I to sneak up the apartment stairs, but we didn't get to see Prim and my mother coming down them. They were already lost somewhere in the restaurant before Dad had called us with the 'all clear'.

"She told her Rory and the kids wanted to go see a movie," he tells me, and I smile a little. Of course that would get her to come down. "I suppose Hazelle told everyone else that Prim wanted the same thing."

"You think they're safe out there by themselves?" Haymitch asks skeptically.

"I sent Finnick and Thom with them," Blue answers. He rubs his face tiredly. "They'll be fine."

My sweet Prim. I can't leave her. Ever. Prison would only be temporary; how soon would I have before they'd force me to leave her forever? I feel like crying out of sheer desperation. We need to find a way out of this. Can we? Is that even possible? I look over at Gale again. He stares back helplessly. He has just as much to lose as I do. We would be wrecked without our families. Without each other. Let's face it, Gale and I are as much family to each other as we are to our own flesh and blood.

"I'm going back downstairs," Blue says abruptly. He looks between us one last time, and I'm more hurt than I'd like to admit when I see that the disgust on his face is also aimed at me. "You two aren't going anywhere. Not even on the roof. Understand?"

Gale nods silently, but I can't resist what I'm about to say. "I need to see Prim," I say desperately. "Before it's too late. I didn't even get to say hello to her this morning; if anything happens and I don't get to say goodbye, I-"

Blue moves faster than I thought possible for such a large man. The vase he smashes to the ground is one of my mother's favorites; one of the last expensive things we have left in the house. I flinch backwards, leaning into my father's knees. He yells in protest of what Blue has done, but makes no effort to stop him when Blue crouches down in front of me.

"Katniss," Blue spits, spraying flecks of saliva in my face. "I asked you if you understood. Do you _fucking_ understand?"

"Yes," I answer, though my voice is so small I doubt he hears it. I can see Gale tense up out of the corner of my eye. I clear my throat so I can speak louder. "I... I understand." My father's hand comes down to squeeze my shoulder, and Blue straightens upright. He adjusts his suit calmly, breathing deeply through his nose.

"Good," he says. He looks straight into my eyes. "Because if you disobey me... if you go outside and get caught, you'll never see Prim again. Not as a free woman."

"Don't use Prim against her," Gale says angrily. His mouth is curled into a snarl. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Gale," both Haymitch and Dad warn, but Blue shuts them up with a wave of his hand.

"Go ahead," Blue says to his son, still remarkably calm. He stares down at Gale, his face set like a stone. "Stand up. Do it, tough guy. I _dare_ you."

In the midst of all the broken glass that Blue's tantrum had left, Gale remains on the floor. If only looks could kill, I'm sure his father would have to join him down there. "That's what I thought," Blue sniffs. He steps delicately over the mess he made and walks to the door. "Stay here," he says to me one last time. He doesn't leave until I nod. "Clean up that vase, Gale," he calls over his shoulder as he goes.

The four of us sit in silence for a minute until my dad stands up. "I'm going to go make the plans," he says. He stoops down to give my head a quick kiss. " _Don't_ leave. I'll have Prim come up as soon as she gets home."

"Okay," I answer, but I'm not really paying attention. I'm looking at Gale. He looks furious. Not that I blame him, but I can't say I like the way his face is looking right now. I hate that I see it like this as often as I do. My dad claps Gale's shoulder as he edges by him to get to the door, and that at least seems to help him calm down a little. He lets his eyes focus on me a moment before making them go back to the floor. Haymitch follows my dad out.

"Thank God," I hear him say. "I need a fucking drink."

Neither of us move at first, let alone speak. Not that we're very talkative around each other anyways. Eventually I stand and take the two steps it requires to reach the kitchen. Gale still doesn't move when I grab the broom, but once I start sweeping up the broken shards of the vase he reluctantly stands. I give him the dustpan to hold.

"Well?" I ask him, sweeping the glass onto the plastic. That one word is enough to ask all of the questions he must know I'm thinking. I watch him stand up and take the dustpan to the garbage. He dumps the glass in the can.

"Well," he repeats, meeting my eyes. I see my own worry reflected in his. "We're fucked."

Fucked. Isn't our language a beautiful thing?

 **Thank you SO much to everyone who's reviewed so far! Please keep it up! Or stop by and say hello on tumblr! You can find me galehawtherne.**


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